Undergarment.



E. M. CLAUSEN.

UNDERGARMENT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3, 1915.

1 9 1 9%, 1 m@, Pntontvd Sept. 12, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

1/ 1 2723 f fizz/672257" 25m May Za/zm/ezz E. M. CLAUSEN.

UNDERGARMENT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3. 19:5.

11 9 1 9&1 Ufi Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

V g J y EDNA IVIAY CLAUSE-N, or nuaoim, ILLINOIS.

UNDERGARIVIENT.

Specification o r oaioe.

et er Patent Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Application filed September 3, 1915. Serial No. 48,790.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDNA MAY CLAUsEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Undergarments,-of whichthe following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to undergarments of the class generally termedunion suits, particularlyxfor womens wear.

The object of the invention isto provide a close-fitting garment of theabove character which will be comfortable to the wearer. Cloth garmentsof this character are generally lighter in weight and cooler than knitgarments, but one great objection isthe inelasticity of the material andthe fact that the material of the garment sticks to the'body fromperspiration. Hence, in

the construction of womens garments of this class, it has not beenpossible to construct a close-fitting garment, due to the inelasticityof the material and the inconvenience and irritation. which result frommovement of the' body, and, as a consequence, womens garments have beenmade so loose that the advantage of lightness and coolness has largelybeen lost.

According to my invention, the garment may be made close-fitting, and,due to its peculiar construction, embodying, as it does, suitableelastic portions, the garment may be made as comfortable and asclose-fitting as a knit suit.

This invention. provides a closed crotch union suit for women. I

Inthe accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated the preferredembodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of thegarment on the wearer in a standing position, illustrating the action ofthe twoelastic inserts; Fig. 2 is a side view of the garment onthewearer, showing the location of the seams and of the elastic in-' sertsabove mentioned, particularly showing the closed crotch portion and itsposition on the wearer; Fig, '3 is a bottom plan view ofthe same; andFig. 4 is a rear view of the garment.

The garment illustrated in the above drawings comprises an upper orshirt portion 1, and a lower or drawers portion 2. The shirt portion '1is provided with sleeve openings 3 on each side and a yoke or neckopening 4:, the front of which extends down 1n'V shape, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 4, to form the front edge 5 of the garment. TheV'shape of the front allows the wearer to employ a dress out low infront ormade of lace or transparent material without showing, and at thesame time gives the maximum service. The shirt portion 1 is open in the.front, being closed by suitable fastenings, such as buttons, and thedrawers portion is open part way down the front to a point considerablyabove the crotch, as indicated by the seam 6 shown in dotted lines inFig. 4:. Both halves of the front portion are formed entirely of aninelastic porous suitable seams. The edges of the arm-holes and of'theyoke-portion may be bound by suitable tape, lace, or the like, to give afinished appearance, or may be finished in any preferred manner. Theback part of the trousers 2 is formed of two similar pieces 8 and 9,which are joined at their sides to the front pieces; The seat portion ofthe garment is open, the portions 8 and 9 overlapping to form a closure.The outer edge of the portion 8 is secured to the portion 9 by a button,or the like, 10, which fastens this part of the overlapping edge.

The underlapping edge of the portion 9 may be secured to the portion 8by a suitable button 11, or the like. The front of the trousers portion2 and the back, which is formed of the pieces 8 and 9, are secured to- Vgether by an insert or gusset 12, which is made of soft elasticmaterial, preferably of knit fabric. This gusset 12 is widest at itscentral portion and tapers off at the ends 15 and 14:, at which pointthe front of the trousers portion is secured to the rear portions 8 and9. The back 7 of the shirt portion 1 is secured to the back part of thetrousers portion by a knit waistband, which is formed of an elasticmaterial. The waistband 13 is made of greater width at the center thanat the ends, in order to coopcrate properly with the elastic gusset 12.The waistband 13 is of a crescent shape. The upper edge of the elasticwaistband is given a greater curvature than the lower erly.

edge so that the garment will shape prop-,

' gathers the material of the seat or drawers to make the same hangproperly. It can now be seen that the two elastic portions 12 and 13cooperate to secure a very advantageous function.

The seat portions 8. and 9 are suspended between two elastic gussets, sothat stooping overof the wearer, as shown-in Fig. 1, does not draw thegarment across the seat, and therefore tends to give great comfort andease of wear. The seat portions are suspended between two elasticportions and, although the same is held firmly against the body, it isapparent that there is no drawing of the seat portion across the bodywhen the wearer stoops, the seat portion moving as a whole as theelastic material on both sides, that is the knit crotch portion 12 and-the knit waist portion 13, stretch substanthere is a tendency to drawthe material tially equally, so that there is no rubbing or sawing ofthe material across the body of 1 the wearer. This feature is ofimportance in securing a closely-fitting, comfortable union suit.

It is apparent that no discomfort results from an inelasticfront-portion, inasmuch as the wearer never bends over backward andhence does not tend to' draw the front portion across the body. However,in stooping across the surface of the body and this is veryuncomfortable. vents such drawing but still allows of great freedom ofmovement. It is also apparent that the knit portions, one of themclothing the sensitive parts, prevent drawing of the 'uated in width tocompensate for the form non-elastic material across the sensitive partsof the body and give agreat freedom of action without discomfort. Theelastic portions 12 and- 13 are 'shaped 'with the broadest portion atthe center in order tocompensate for the greater curvature of the bodyat the central portion of the back. That is to say,'the elastic portionsare gradand movement of the body of the wearer.

The curvature of the lower edge- My invention 'pre-' This garment takesinto account the form and contour of the female figure and therequirement for the wearing the undergarment.

While I have described one embodiment of my invention, it is to beunderstood that I do not intend to be limited to the precise details ofconstruction illustrated and described. The feature of the crescentshaped elastic waistband secures a close fit of the garment under thecorset of the wearer and at the same time provides a yielding suspensionfor the seat of the garment.

What I ,claim as new and desire to proof a corset over tect by LettersPatent of the Unitedv States is: o

In a garment of the class described, front and back portions comprisinga shirt and drawers, the shirt'having arm and neck openings and thedrawers having a protruding seat open at the lower part thereof, thefront portion being uniformly of relatively inelastic'material, acrescent-shaped insert of relatively elastic material extending fromside to side across the back between the shirt back portion and thedrawers back portion, such crescent shaped insert having a lower concaveedge whereby a gradually increas-' mg flare is provided in the drawersportion,

and a gusset of relatively elastic material disposed in the crotch andextending a considerable distance rearwardly of the crotch,

said gusset being inserted between the front and back portions andtapering downwardly along the inner sides of the leg portions of thedrawers, the gusset thus closing EDNA MAY CLAUSEN.

day of August A. D. A v

